Site Search Navigation

Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

Men Gain Weight During Pregnancy

By Lisa Belkin June 2, 2009 12:55 pmJune 2, 2009 12:55 pm

A British research firm is reporting that the average weight gained during pregnancy is 14 pounds — and that’s by the babies’ fathers.

Five thousand male respondents to an online survey by the marketing company Onepoll, said they were eating more as their partners’ pregnancies progressed. Their reasons: eating out more frequently before the baby comes (42 percent), the increased availability of snacks around the house (41 percent), the desire to make their partner feel better about her own weight gain (25 percent) and being served larger portions — apparently by a hungry mom-to-be (20 percent).

On average, respondents said, they added about two inches to their waistlines and at least 25 percent had to go out and buy bigger pants.

Only 30 percent, however, joined their partner in a diet after the baby arrived.

On the subject of Dads who swell with more than pride during pregnancy, go here to read about a report several years ago about what some doctors have dubbed “Couvade syndrome” — in which men come down with many of the symptoms their pregnant partners are experiencing, including not only weight gain, but also morning sickness, food cravings, baby bumps, fatigue, back pain and, eventually, contractions. Some researchers attribute all this to anxiety about becoming a father, while others theorize that these men are particularly empathetic and in tune with their partners needs.

None of the phantom pregnancies resulted in an actual birth.

Have you experienced sympathy symptoms or weight gain during a woman’s pregnancy in your home? Tell us about it in the comments.

I definitely think the increased amount of good, high protein snacks around the house increases the chances of weight gain for the partner. It seems to me though the bigger weight increase comes when the child is a bit older and leaving half finished plates of food in their trail. My husband tends to finish them all. It took us years before we figured out in restaurants to order one less plate of food than there were kids at the table. Now though with 4 kids we aren’t out to eat much at all anyway!

My household provides anecdotal confirmation of this phenomenon. My husband gained a fair amount of weight during my pregnancy and it has been more difficult for him to lose it than it has been for me. He gained for all the reasons mentioned in the piece and, strangely, during the first (rather stressful) year of our son’s life, the weight gain kept coming. Nesting was part of it, but it also came from the anxiety of parenthood. My husband would often find himself eating even if he wasn’t hungry, because the baby was so unpredictable in his eating, sleeping and crying patterns, that you just never knew whether it would be possible to eat at mealtimes. Now that life has somewhat settled down again, it’ remains a challenge to take the weight off.

I gained about about 10 or 15 pounds during my partner’s pregnancy. This was partially because we suddenly shifted to whole-milk products — whole milk, yogurt, plus just lots more food overall. It was awesome. I’ve mostly retained the weight — I like to think that most of it is muscle — and I have a hard time going back to the world of skim milk!

For a lot of my wife’s pregnancy, she had a very strong aversion to foods with any sort of aroma. It started with onions and garlic, but eventually she could not stand the smell of most cooking vegetables. We couldn’t even enter a restaurant because the smell would instantly make her feel nauseous. Many sweets are relatively odorless, and we found ourselves increasingly eating a lot of cake and ice cream — we called it the “birthday party diet.” And yeah, I gained a few pounds.

After the delivery, there was so much running around and going up and down the stairs, as well as late nights, etc., that I quickly dropped the extra weight, and actually got down to close to what I weighed in college, which was ok.

My husband and I both gained the most weight with our first child. I had miscarried before and was very “tender” with myself – no undue exertion, lots of comfort food… Thus the 38 pounds! (My husband gained about 20.) Fortunately we were in our 20s, ended up with a very large, healthy, durable baby and proceeded to run off all that weight pretty quickly starting with three mile walks with baby in the stroller when he was a week old.

With future pregnancies I gained about 25 pounds each (and lost it) and my husband gained none. I gained less weight because I didn’t overeat and I had a young son (and then two young sons!) to chase throughout the process. So I agree that it was a function of more tasty snacks around the house and a reduction in exercise (since I would not ride a bike or run while pregnant the first time, though I was perfectly OK doing those activities during future pregnancies.)

I definitely gained a little weight during my wife’s pregnancy.
It was only about 8-10lbs but it was good for me since Im a skinny person. I brought me back to my college days when i was solid and weight more.
But I had some aches and some similiar pregnancy symptoms from time to time and it was quite funny and weird but cool at the same time.

My wife gave birth this past January. During her pregnancy, I lost a bit of weight and generally became more fit.

There are a few reasons why this might have happened:
1. I do most of the food shopping and cooking, so there’s wasn’t the increase in portion size due to an extra-hungry chef.
2. I made sure we both had a healthy variety of food and I consciously increased her portion appropriately, but not mine.
3. I walk most places, so as we were accumulating what would we would need and preparing for the baby, I was carrying more.
4. We actually ate out less because of fatigue and the need to save money.

Though I can’t say my wife was very pleased that I didn’t put on the sympathy pounds!

During my first pregnancy, my husband gained about 10 pounds. I think it was mostly because I would ask him to go out and buy me something to eat and he’d get one for himself as long as he was already out.

During my second pregnancy, he lost weight. Of course, we did move across the country. And he started a new job. And we bought our first house. So maybe he’s a bit stressed this time around.

Makes sense. So much of weight is environment, so seems logical that a changed environment would change weight. When I got married, I changed how I cooked to make things my husband liked — i.e., meat at every meal, ice cream for a snack at night (because it’s almost impossible to resist when the person sitting next to you is chowing down on a nice, cold, creamy, sweet bowlful). Not surprisingly, I gained 20 lbs within the first two years. So when I started eating 2-3 snacks a day, or going to McD’s to satisfy that french fry craving, why would it be surprising that he’d join me?

I also dropped it easier, because (a) I plain forgot to eat, (b) I was burning extra calories from breastfeeding, and (c) I then went part-time and had time to visit the gym regularly. Meanwhile, he was starting a new job, working long hours, and taking lunches with the boys (think giant burritos).

My husband did gain some weight (although I think it was more like 10 lbs rather than 15) during my first pregnancy. Certainly we were eating bigger meals, and possibly more snacks, because I was very hungry. After the birth, we were still eating big meals because I breastfed for a year and was starving. I didn’t have any problem losing weight after the pregnancy because for me nursing was the most effective weight loss program ever. But obviously it didn’t work that way for my husband. A few months after I stopped nursing I got pregnant again, so we continued eating larger meals for another two years or so for the second pregnancy and nursing period.

Anyway, I finally finished nursing our second son about fifteen months ago, and my husband has definitely lost all the weight he gained, and perhaps more. Because I make pretty much all our food, and my appetite is greatly reduced, our meals are smaller, and I don’t bake as many goodies as I used to, etc. So I’ll have to take the rap for that one.

We also don’t eat out anymore, partly because it’s expensive to do so with two kids, and partly because our two-year old can’t sit still through a meal. Cholesterol problems run in my family so I am fairly careful to reduce fat and cholesterol in most of the meals we eat at home. I am sure that not eating out so often has reduced our weight, because I lost an additional 5 lbs myself after we stopped dining out, without any attempt at dieting.

I gained an average of 12 pounds for each of our three children – weight that I haven’t lost. The combination of being less active, eating fast food and the cravings for salty snacks and Dairy Queen Blizzards did me in.

I’m almost through with my first trimester, and my husband has gained a bit around his waistline. I attribute this in part to less activity — I don’t have much energy, so I’m happy to spend my non-working hours reading and resting, and my husband is kind enough to spend these hours with me. I also think the weight gain may have to do with alcohol consumption. I’m not drinking alcohol, and my husband says he is now “drinking for two” and indulging in a beer or two during our restful weekends at home. I expect he’ll take off the weight, though, once we get used to the pregnancy and I get back to a more active routine.

While visiting the National Zoo last week, I learned from a docent that cougars also experience phantom pregnancies, to the extent that it’s not til the end of the 2nd trimester that a pregnancy can be assumed as real. If the pregnancy ‘symptoms’ go away (weight gain, changes in energy and eating patterns), there’s no pregnancy watch. But if they continue, the staff begins the pregnancy watch leading up to the cubs’ birth. That zoo hadn’t had real pregnancies til recent years, so they’ve had experience noting the phantom pregnancies.

About

We're all living the family dynamic, as parents, as children, as siblings, uncles and aunts. At Motherlode, lead writer and editor KJ Dell’Antonia invites contributors and commenters to explore how our families affect our lives, and how the news affects our families—and all families. Join us to talk about education, child care, mealtime, sports, technology, the work-family balance and much more